Water-elevator



UNITED STATES PATENT oEEicE.-

ALBERT JOHNSON, OF PUTNAM, CONNECTICUT.

WATER-ELEVATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent 1\To.l 36,409, dated September 9, 1862.

To all whom 'it may concern: Y l

Be it known that I, ALBERT JOHNSON, of Putnam, in the county of Vindhamand State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement inI/Vindlasses for Wells; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe ac.- companying drawings, making a part of this specification, inwhich- A Figure l is a front view of my invention applied to awell-curb. Fig. 2 a side sectional view of the same, taken in the linem, m, Fig. l, a portion of the crank mechanism being also in section.Fig. 3 a detached sectional view of the crank mechanism, taken in theline y, y, Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

The object of this invention is to obtain a well-windlass of simple andeconomical construction by which the bucket may be raised with facilityand allowed to fall at any time, or from any point at t-he will of theoperator, and without a reverse movement of the crank.

Vell-windlasses of this class have been previously devised; but, so faras I am aware they have all been complicated in their arrangement,involving the necessity of reversing the movement of the crank in orderto release the bucket, and thereby not admitting of the operator havingthat control over the device that he should have in order to avoid thebucket being injured by a too rapid descent in the well, and also by acasual releasing of the bucket.

My invention it is believed fully obviates this diiiiculty, and by avery simple means, which is not liable to get out of repair or becomederanged by use. Y

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct myinventionI will proceed to describe it.

A, represents a well-curb which may be constructed in any proper way,and B is a drum the shaft C of which has its bearings on the upper partof the framing of the curb. The drum is permanently attached to itsshaft C turning with it, and one end of said shaft has a wheel Dattached permanently to it. This wheel has a smooth periphery, and is atthe outer end of the curb fralne.

E is what may be termed a crank-boX which is of oblong form, andcylindrical at one end, so as to inclose the wheel D, This crank-box isfitted loosely on the shaft C, the latter passing through its sides ateach side of the wheel D. The inner side of the crank-box E has aratchet F attached to it into which a pawl G, secured to the curb framecatches. The ratchet F is, like the crank-box, tted loosely on the shaftC.

H is a slide which is placed in the crankbox E, and has a piece ofindia-rubber, leather, or other suitable elastic or yielding substance cto its end which faces the periphery of the wheel D, see Figs. 2 and 3.This slide H has a spring I bearing against its outer end and thisspring has a tendency to keep the slide in contact with the periphery ofthe wheel D. The outer end of the spring I is in contact with a bar J,one end of which passes through an oblong slot b in the outer side ofthe crank-box, and has a screw K pass-ing through it, said screw passingthrough the end of a small boX-c, attached to the crank-box E, andfitting in an internal screw thread in J. By turning the screw K the barJ may be moved within the crank-box and the strength of spring Igraduated as desired, to regulate the pressure of the slide H on thewheel D. This will be fully understood by referring to Fig. 3. The slideH has one end of a bar L attached to it, the opposite end beingconnected to or fitted on a pin d which is attached to a small pulley c,at a point some distance from its center or axis-see Fig. 2. The slide Hand pulley c, are both within the crank-box E, and thepulley is fittedon a shaft or rod M which passes through the outer side of the crank-boxand through a handle N, by which the crankbox is t-urned. The outer endof the shaft or rod M has a small thumb-wheel O secured to it. VTheslide H it will be seen serves as a brake and connects the crank-boxbrake Hfrom the wheel D, and thereby dis connect the crank-box E` fromthe shaft C, so that the latter will be left free to turn and the bucketP allowed to descend by its own gravity. The speed of the descent of thebucket may be regulated'as desired by? graduating the pressure of theslide or brake H on the Wheel D, andthe `instant the` operator releasesthe shaft or rod M, the spring I turns the slide or brake H in contactwith the wheel `D and connects `the, crank-box with the shaft C.

The arrangement is extremely simple and under the complete control ofthe operator, as the liberat-ion of the bucket from the crank-box doesnot depend upon a reverse movement of the latter, and consequently thebucket is not liable to become casually or accidentally liberated, acontingencyY which not unfrequent-ly occurs in using those hithertodevised.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by`Letl ters Patent, isv l. The crank-box E placed loosely on theshaftA C, and provided with the slide or'` brake H, spring I, pulley e,and bar L, in connection with the wheel D attached per- -manently to theshaft C, and placed within the crank-box, all being arranged to operatesubstantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. Ifurther claim the graduating of the WM. J. STONE, I. MANNING.

